The Lost and Found
by White Shade
Summary: After Shadow Hearts Covanent takes place, everyone finds that the world they each prayed for all seemed to combine into one single world. This is their new reality, a reality in which they must find what they have prayed for. This is Gepetto's adventure to reach Cornelia. Rated for the descriptions of later chapters and themes.
1. Chapter 1

It was a particularly colorful evening as Gepetto stared out the window of his Paris apartment. He thought about all the sacrifices his friends had made: Yuri especially, but poor Karin too. She had fallen quite hard for Yuri. That much was obvious. He recognized that look in her eyes as they had continued their adventure. Ultimately, Yuri could not escape his fate. Rather than choosing to forget himself and his memories, he chose to go where he was the happiest.

Poor Karin. Gepetto found her a few moths later along with Yuri's father, but he steered her away from him, thinking that was probably best. She was staying with him in his apartment now. Lucia retuned to her job previous to their adventure. She was all the way in Florence, Italy, but that wasn't a distance they couldn't travel. The time rift was certainly a different place indeed. They were supposed to pray for a world in which they wanted to live in. They had, but praying alone had not done the tricks they were hoping for. There was still a reality to be lived in. The world they had all wished for was one with one another in it.

It was strange. Some things existed, and some things did not, depending on what they had wished for. Gepetto wasn't sure he could put a number on the years they had traveled in the past. Yuri's father was alive, but Yuri wasn't exactly with them. It was a strange place.

Anastasia and Kurando were still alive and well, traveling together with Blanca. That is what they wanted. Anastasia just wanted to be with Kurando and Blanca wanted to follow her to the very end. Their adventure will always bind them together, and Gepetto had just sent a letter to them last week, explaining he had found Karin. Joachim had become a rather famous wrestler, continually making headlines with every competition he'd won. Gepetto kept all the papers next to the pictures Anastasia sent him through the mail. Joachim must have wished to be known for something he was good at.

Still, they were all in the world, somewhere together.

"You found everyone then huh?" Karin asked, playing with Cornelia's fire dancer dress.

"I did," Gepetto replied. "We should get together soon. It gets lonely sometimes."

Karin nodded, looking at the collection Gepetto had around his office of their adventures.

"How did you get the same apartment?" Karin asked.

"Coincidence I think," he replied with a smirk. "I know you miss Yuri. So do I."

"It's just…strange to think I'll never see him again. Like that photo cannot exist. Well, me having it anyway," Karin said. "Do you think Roger is still in Whales?"

"I know he is," Gepetto replied. "Why don't we take a trip? We can visit Lucia in Florence. I'll ask if anyone else would like to join us."

"Okay," Karin agreed. Gepetto made the arrangements, sending them off the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Florence.

The two of them arrived into the city without any trouble at all. Outside of Lucia's residence, they met Blanca lying outside, who greeted them with a wide smile.

"Hey there Blanca," Gepetto said as the wolf wagged his tail at he and Karin. Karin gave him a pet and knocked on the door.

"Gepetto!" Anastasia's voice broke through the door before Kurando got the chance to open it.

"Hello again!" Kurando said with a smile. Blanca went back inside as they let in Karin and Gepetto.

Lucia brought out some coffee for everyone, setting on a table before coming to greet them.

"Karin! I'm so glad you're safe," Lucia said. "I got worried when Gepetto said he just found you in his last letter." Gepetto set Cornelia on an end table next to where he sat down. Anastasia still clung to Kurando, seemingly anxious.

"I thought bringing her here would be a good thing," he said.

Lucia nodded. "I'm so sorry about Yuri. We all miss him."

"I know, I just thought I'd get to see him, one last time," Karin said, finding her way to a sofa to sit down. "I wonder where he went…"

Blanca's paw came up to rest on her leg.

"I'm sure it will be okay," Kurando said. "It's been strange, trying to figure everything out, you know?"

"Yes, it's been a learning experience shall we say," Gepetto said.

"Speaking of which, Gepetto," Karin said, turning to him. "I wished very hard for Yuri to still be in this world with us. Didn't you wish for your daughter to return too?"

"I did," Gepetto replied. "She hasn't turned up yet. I've been looking for her," Gepetto replied. "I didn't pray for things to just fall into my lap. I simply prayed that she could be with me again, without a horrible sickness."

"It has to be her, Lucia, Kurando! It has to be!" Anastasia blurted out. "I'm positive now."

"What was that?"

"Your daughter, Cornelia," the princess said, pointing to the doll. "She looks like that right?"

Gepetto nodded.

"There have been rumors going on about a doll maker capturing spirits of little girls and turning them into dolls. According to papers, someone's been kidnapping orphans and other girls alike. One of the dolls was in yesterday's paper." Kurando handed Gepetto a newspaper. He straightened his glasses.

"Oh my goodness, that looks just like the girl in the next photo!" he exclaimed.

"We know," Lucia said with a sigh. "She was found dead on the streets and the doll was taken by an investigation team of the doll maker's house. Apparently, he highly protested, saying it was just a coincidence."

"That sounds awful! What does this have to do with Cornelia?"

"Well, you see I met this girl few days ago. When we got here, she was walking all by herself out of a gift store. I asked her what she was doing and she told me that her father used to make lots dolls for her and that the shop reminded her of him. She was looking for him, and she told me that someone told her of a doll maker in Germany that knew everything about dolls, and that he could make anything.

"So I asked her why she wanted to see him so bad, and she said 'I want to ask about my father.' And then she gave me this lovely ribbon. We hung out all afternoon!" Anastasia pulled a ribbon from her pocket.

"She was so nice, but I didn't want to stop her from her journey. I didn't know if it was even possible she could even be Cornelia."

Gepetto looked closely at the ribbon, recognizing it as the same one he tied into his doll Cornelia's hair at one point in time. He still had that ribbon at his apartment.

"That is Cornelia's! Where is she now? Where is the doll maker's house?" he stood up so suddenly, his back almost gave out.

"We don't know," Lucia shook her head. "Investigators found that he abandoned his house here in Florence where he was making the dolls. I hope he's not the same doll maker in east now."

"I must go after her!" Gepetto exclaimed. "I need to know if it's her! What if it _is_ her? What does this doll maker do?"

"They say his dolls are so realistic that they seem to come to life, and if her soul is stuck in one of those dolls, I don't know," Kurando said.

"Will you all come with me?" Gepetto asked. Blanca barked, sniffing at the ribbon in Anastasia's hands. He barked, siding with the puppeteer.

"I'll come with you!" the princess exclaimed.

"Sure," Karin agreed.

"I could go for one more adventure," Lucia agreed. Kurando nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The Doll House.

"Is this it?" Gepetto asked.

"This is where that shopkeeper told me it would be," Anastasia said. "I just hope Cornelia knows how to follow directions."

"Now now," Kurando said, nudging the princess.

"Oh, sorry," Anastasia apologized. Karin was genuinely shocked that the princess had apologized for a rude comment. Perhaps Kurando was growing on her?

The place could have used some fixing up. Big time. The house looked old already, but not the worst. It seemed livable, and Gepetto made his way up the driveway. Everyone else followed and he knocked on the door.

No one answered. It was late evening, but Gepetto knew someone had to be inside.

"Hello?" Gepetto asked at the front door, throwing back his puppeteer's cape. "I need to speak with you. Hello?"

There was still no answer. Blanca barked, circling the house and digging a small hole. There was a marker near it, and the wolf hit a box.

"Blanca, what are you—" Karin asked, walking over to the wolf.

The wooden casket began constantly vibrating, and a small voice could be heard.

"Help!" a girl's voice cried.

Gepetto walked over to Blanca and Karin tore off the casket. Out emerged a girl with brown hair, gasping for air, her arms tied behind her back.

"Oh thank God!" the girl gasped. "Thank you so much!"

"What happened?" Kurando asked.

"There's a man…and he told me that he would make me a special doll so that I could remember my mother who passed away a few years ago. Then, as I waited for him to finish, everything turned black, and I woke up in this box. I'm so hungry, I don't know how long I've been inside."

"My goodness, have you seen a girl with blonde hair and pigtails?" Gepetto asked. "Her name is Cornelia."

"Cornelia…Cornelia!" she pointed to the puppet in Gepetto's hands. "Yeah, I've seen her. She came in after I did with the man who promised us dolls. She didn't want a doll though; she was just asking if he knew someone named Gepetto."

"That's my name! I'm her father, please tell me where she went."

"She was still there, I'm afraid," the girl replied, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I don't know any more."

"Where is he?" Gepetto asked.

"Inside, in his basement. I'm scared to go down there," the girl replied.

"What's your name?" Anastasia asked.

"My name? It's Hannah," the girl replied.

"Thank you Hannah," Gepetto replied swiftly, jogging back to the front door. Blanca helped Hannah out of the hole and the puppeteer knocked again. Still no answer.

Finally, Lucia and Karin knocked over the front door. Intially, there was no one in sight, but Gepetto looked around hurriedly.

"Cornelia!" he called for her over and over. The sound of a door busting open came from upstairs.

"Papa!" that was Cornelia!

"Cornelia!" Gepetto raced upstairs, and Blanca ran ahead of him, standing before the master puppeteer of this dollhouse.

He growled, lunging at the man without hesitation. Cornelia gasped at the door, but her face immediately brightened as she saw her father.

"Papa!" she ran towards him, but an invisible string pulled her back, making her cringe in pain. Gepetto raced to her, seeing the string attached, almost like a spider's web. It was only around his left wrist.

Blood dripped from her wrist. She ran too hard too fast.

"It hurts," she said as her liquid dripped to the floor, looking up. She then saw the doll. "Is that…me?"

"Yes," Gepetto said. "It is you."

"Is she all bloody too? Just like me?" she asked.

"She's seen much pain, my dear," Gepetto said. Karin and Lucia were taking on the puppeteer while Anastasia and Kurando searched the house for more girls. Lucia cut Cornelia's string and her father scooped her up instantly. She held her doll form, letting the blood drip onto the doll's left wrist so it could be just like her.

"We're getting out of here," Gepetto said, walking down the stairs with his daughter.

"Did you find Hannah?" Cornelia asked.

"We did," her father replied. "She's outside, waiting for us."

Gepetto and Cornelia met Hannah outside, where they tried to think of anyone else who could be there with them. Anastasia and Kurando came upstairs with five more girls, still alive and well. Two were dead; they were too late for them. The doll maker had taken their souls from their bodies and put them into dolls.

No one knew exactly how many dolls this man had made and how many girls were gone because of him. Cornelia and Hannah didn't even know there were as many as five girls with them in the house.

"He's gone," Karin said proudly, coming downstairs with Lucia.

"I only wish Joachim could have joined us on this one," Lucia said. "He'd have gotten that door much more easily."

"No use worrying about it now. Get the police!" Gepetto exclaimed. They headed down to a police station with the girls they'd rescued, and within the day, they had all made front-page news.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Florence.

Newspapers everywhere were asking for interviews, but it all seemed to be the same information. Some painted this man as a killer, others a masked stranger, and there was even a psychological journal labeling him as a psychopath who may have escaped from a facility. Either way, the matter was over and done with. Gepetto was sick of interviews, and he just wanted to stick around in Florence a while longer with his friends.

"How did you find me?" Cornelia asked. Anastasia explained everything when they sat around Lucia's table with coffee and cookies.

"So, you knew him this whole time?" Cornelia said.

"Yes, but I was afraid to say anything. I didn't want to sound like some gossip girl," the princess replied. Cornelia looked down at her clothes and her now closed wound on her left wrist.

"I think…I think I need some new clothes," she sighed.

"Cornelia!" Gepetto exclaimed. "We can do that tonight if you would like!"

"Okay!" She seemed very delighted to hear that news, but there was an indescribable melancholy about her.

* * *

After coffee and cookies, Cornelia looked at her doll's extensive clothes selection. Gepetto explained that a few friends made them for him, but they weren't around as of late.

"I really like this one," she gestured to the fire dancer that was on the doll already. He knew there might not be something similar in a shop, but they could have a look around. They had plenty of money to work with after the adventure. They had split the money evenly, but that still left them with a lot for the world they lived in now.

They searched a few small shops, but Cornelia didn't seem satisfied with most of the clothes made in Italy.

"Maybe this one?" Anastasia asked, holding up multiple dresses, but she shook her head at each one.

"This?" Lucia suggested, but again Cornelia shook her head. "More simple."

"What about this?" Karin said, holding up a peach colored dress with a halter-top. Cornelia nodded, trying on the dress. It fit her perfectly.

"Well, aren't you being modest today?" Gepetto said, purchasing the dress at first sight. Anastasia tied the blue ribbon Cornelia had given her into the girl's hair. Now it was a simple, single ponytail.

Cornelia smiled, walking outside with her new dress into the warm summer night. Her and Gepetto went for a walk before returning to Lucia's.

"It was a nightmare in there," Cornelia said. "I never thought doll making could be so horrifying."

"Cornelia, it really isn't like that at all," Gepetto said. "We don't use real people to make dolls."

"I know, it's just…the things he must have done. Two girls died. I was in the same house with two dead girls and didn't even know it! He was tying strings around my wrist! Like, I was his real doll!" she exclaimed. "I just…I can't get over it yet."

"It's all right now. We found you, and you're alive," Gepetto said, tears in his eyes. "You were gone for a long time, you know that?"

"I know," she replied. "It's strange, I felt like I was asleep for the longest time. I couldn't find you either, so I went looking for you."

She went quiet, sighing as she looked up at the night sky, a tear escaping her eye.

"Do not cry Cornelia. I cannot bear to see you sad," Gepetto said.

"But, you're crying too," she said.

"I know…I know," he said, pulling her into a hug. "Someday, I will tell you about my adventures, and how we all came to know each other."

"I hope you do, I feel like I missed a lot," Cornelia said. "And then I can tell you what I've been doing all this time."

"I'd like that." Gepetto and Cornelia walked the streets some more before they walked back inside. Karin was asleep on the couch with Blanca, Lucia had fallen asleep in her room upstairs, and Anastasia was asleep in a large chair.

"Kurando," Gepetto greeted.

"Evening. You can have the guest room," he said. "I'm not going to sleep much tonight."

"All right, if you're certain. Try and sleep at least a little. Good night."

He took Cornelia with him into the guest room where he hung up his hat. Cornelia took off her shoes and lay down in the bed.

"I'm very tired, Papa," she said.

"I know. I am too. It's been a long day, hasn't it?" he said, lying next to her. She yawned, closing her eyes and positioning her left arm underneath her head. Gepetto remained on his back.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, and he knew she had once her head tilted to its side, brushing against his white sideburns. He was hesitant to wrap an arm around her. He didn't want to disturb her.

"Cornelia," he said, looking outside to the stars. "Thank you Yuri…you've helped me find my daughter again."


End file.
